Pete Liakakis not ready to bow out of politics

Faced with the prospect of “three-Pete,” Chatham County voters opted for “de-Pete.”

They voted overwhelmingly Tuesday not to let Chatham County Commission Chairman Pete Liakakis seek a third term.

Many assumed that meant the end of Liakakis’ long political career.

Prompted by questions about his legacy, people offered up praise worthy of a political obituary.

“In an era of vicious partisanship and ideological division,” said former state Sen. Eric Johnson, “Pete stands out as an active, caring, accessible and honest public servant.”

Not so fast, insists the chairman, who says he’ll run for some office — he won’t say which one — next year.

“I’m talking to some close friends,” said Liakakis, who served two terms on the Savannah city council before winning the commission chairmanship in 2004. “I’m looking at options. Three or four things have been mentioned.”

Options varied

Liakakis could vie for a seat on the commission, though not the chairmanship. He could run for Congress, the state House or Senate, or the local school board.

There are other — but less likely — choices, such as coroner or sheriff.

“Yes, absolutely,” said local political consultant David Simons — who’s worked for and against Liakakis — when asked whether he would be serious contender.

Eli Karatassos, a long-time friend and supporter, agreed.

“I don’t know that anyone doubts his abilities once he decides what he wants to do,” Karatassos said.

What Liakakis wants to do now is focus on the nearly 14 months left in his second four-year term as chairman.

“I’m going to work with groups like the Savannah Economic Development Authority to get more business and industry in our county,” he said.

“I’m going to work with people at all levels to promote the deepening of Savannah’s harbor. That’s very important for our economy.”

He also said he’ll stay active in intergovernmental regional bodies that he says benefit the county.

He says, for example, that his service on such a body helped him get local road projects included among those to be funded if voters approve a new penny sales tax next year.

Liakakis also plans to be active in the campaign for the measure.

He hopes for a better outcome than last Tuesday’s 65 percent rejection of a bid to lift the two-term limit on the chairman.

Liakakis: Voters missed the point

“People didn’t understand they already have the power to put limits on somebody by not voting for him,” he said. “They thought they’d be stuck with bad people who run again and again.

“But if you look at history, you can see that a number of people have been voted out.”

Some people say it was a mistake for Liakakis to take such a high profile in the campaign.

Although he said the proposal to remove voter-enacted restriction came from others, he supported it from the start.

Recounting his various efforts, he said when the idea surfaced last year that there were “a lot of things I would like to continue working on.”

He stood with a pro-referendum sign in rush-hour traffic on the day before the election and his picture appeared in newspaper ads boosting the measure.

The campaign listed the same address as his home and almost a third of the money it had collected as of Oct. 25 consisted of a loan from his wife.

“Pete made it about himself and not the issue,” said Chatham County Republican Chairman Carl Smith.

“I don’t know,” Liakakis responded. “That could be true to some extent, but you’d have to take a poll, I guess.”

But he hinted that, if he had it to do over, he might have made himself less conspicuous.

“As you go along,” he said, “you learn things, and sometimes you do things a little differently the next time.”

But Karatassos has his own ideas about the referendum’s defeat.

Republicans, he said, campaigned against it because Liakakis is a Democrat — though not vocally partisan.